Skin Pigmentation | What Types Of Pigmentation Are There

Types of Skin Pigmentation

Melanin defends our skin from the sun’s harmful rays, and it also gives our skin pigment. Melanin establishes one’s skin complexion. For darker people, they have more melanin than fair people. However, when melanin is produced in an irregular manner, the skin tone can become uneven and produce darker areas in the skin.

Skin pigmentation has various cause and effects. If you want to know more about the types of skin pigmentation, the details are below.

• Ephelides/Freckles

Ephelides are mostly inborn in people with fair skin. Freckles are commonly inherited. They may enhance or worsen one’s appearance.

• Solar Lentigines

These dark spots are also referred to as age spots or sun spots. This is caused by dead cells that are left on skin and causing dark pigmentation. They are commonly found on the hands and face. They may look like freckles, but mostly solar lentigines are due to skin damage.

• Melasma

Melasma occurs more in women than in men. Women who take birth control pills are more inclined to having melasma. Melasma appears like brown patches on the face or any part of the body. Two variety of melasma are the epidermal and dermal. Epidermal melasma is superficial, it only affects the upper epidermis. Dermal melasma is much worse because it is situated deeply under the skin.

• Chloasma

This condition is prevalent in some pregnant women. Excessive sun exposure can aggravate this condition. This also shows on the stomach area.

The abovementioned pigmentation troubles are caused by too much pigmentation. The following conditions are results of hypopigmentation. Hypopigmentation translate to the loss of pigment on skin.

• Skin Damage

The skin may also lose pigment due to wounds.

• Albinism

This condition is the absence of melanin on skin. This causes some albino people to have very light skin, hair and eye color. There is a gene which restricts the production of melanin in albino people. Albinism should be taken care of with great caution since without melanin, the skin is in danger of developing cancer and other skin damage brought by the sun.

• Vitiligo

black people with white patches of skin may have vitiligo. When pigment producing cells are destroyed, vitiligo can affect an individual. Since there is no cure for it yet, all a patient can do is to cover it with make up.

One should consult a dermatologist first before treating these skin problems. Doing self treatment can make it worse, so don’t take the risk.